Festival International de Jazz de Montreal 2024

Festival International de Jazz de Montreal
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
June 27-July 6 2024

One of the charges that has historically been leveled against the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal (the FIJM, or popularly, the Montreal Jazz Festival) is that the programming had gone from a jazz-centric approach in its early years to a state where the program didn't present much current jazz by young or lesser-known musicians, international or local, nor did it make such music easily accessible to audiences. In the last several years, however, the programming at the FIJM has taken a drastic and welcome turn toward proudly presenting important contemporary jazz in free, family-friendly venues. In years past, reviewers of the festival would run to attend as many indoor, ticketed shows as possible. Today, doing so is not necessary, and it's not even the best way to experience the festival anymore. One can see a lot of interesting jazz as well as other genres on free stages, which are thoughtfully laid out on the festival site at Montreal's downtown Quartier des Spectacles to allow maximum musical exposure with minimum need to move between one venue and another. The big difference today is that there is far more of an opportunity for people of all ages and income levels to experience contemporary, high-level jazz music.

Unfortunately, due to the writer's jet lag and illness, this review only covers a few performances at the festival. The fact that so many of those performances were compelling speaks to the vision of the current programming team, led by Director of Programming, Maurin Auxéméry.

Six o'clock in the evening presented a dilemma for the average attendee to the free concerts available. A choice had to be made between the indoor show at le Studio TD, usually featuring local musicians, or the semi-outdoor Pub Molson, three blocks away, where one could see the likes of Chris Potter, Melissa Aldana, Lakecia Benjamin, and Orrin Evans. A logical route starts at Studio TD for about half an hour and then a 5- minute fast walk to Pub Molson to catch the second half of the 6 o'clock show. With further shows at 8 and 10 at Pub Molson, one could bounce back and forth between there and the next-door Rogers Stage, which featured blues and rock-oriented artists at 7, 9 and 11 pm. And right next to that was the Rio Tinto Stage, featuring groove-based offerings at 6, 8, and 10. There was also a 10 pm jazz series at Studio TD. There were other choices, including the big free shows on the street, which this year included Robert Glasper, Orville Peck, and the Cinematic Orchestra, the last of whom did the honors on the final night of the festival.

As noted, of the roughly dozen performances I saw over four nights of the festival, most were compelling enough to warrant sticking around for the full set, and several were sublime. In the former category were sets by Montreal pianist Marianne Trudel and her trio, Melanie Charles the Anthony Fung Quartet, and Montreal saxophonist Yannick Rieu. Trudel presented a series of compositions inspired by the death of a close friend and collaborator. Trudel is a lyrical pianist with a precise attack, and her interplay with drummer John Hollenbeck was playful and incisive. Rieu has been on the scene since at least the 1980s. He has always been an uncompromising musician, with a hard-edged lyricism, which was fully on display during his set. Toronto drummer Fung leads a quartet that includes saxophonist Dayna Stephens. Their music was cool, with a hip, jagged edge to it. Charles is a Haitian- American vocalist, electronics artist, and would-be street preacher who stated that her mission is to "make jazz real again," like when the music was played at rent parties. "How sexy was that?" she asked.

In the sublime category were sets by rapper Killer Mike, Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana, American folk/country swing/rock 'n roll artist Pokey LaFarge, and the Medicine Singers, who closed the festival at the Rogers Stage on Saturday, July 6.

Killer Mike brought gospel, a slick DJ, and a ton of heart to his performance at MTelus, a venue that has had several name changes and has seen many artists on its stage over the years. The talents at hand were fully utilized. DJ Trackstar was one busy man, and the singers, the Mighty Midnight Revival Choir, delivered on the stories in Mike Renders' album Michael (VLNS Loma Vista, 2023), though he did reach back in his catalog during the middle of the set. The times are uncertain indeed, but Killer Mike uplifts.

Pokey LaFarge has already forged quite a career in American folk and country music, and his appearance this year was his third time at the festival. With an approach that looks like Bob Wills meets Hank Williams with a version of the young Bob Dylan, LaFarge tore it up on Saturday night in Montreal. LaFarge is a compelling entertainer with a solid band whose music is an alchemy of '20s jazz, tropical lounge and country swing. On this Saturday night, Mr. LaFarge and his band seemed to enjoy themselves while they won over a large number of converts.

The 11 o'clock series at the Rogers stage seemed to draw inspiration from the Victoriaville festival in presenting avant-rock for the late-night crowd. Montreal seven-piece TEKE::TEKE is a hard-rocking post-punk outfit led by charismatic frontwoman Maya Kuroki. Their high-speed, careening stop/start energy drew an enthusiastic response on Sunday. Medicine Singers are a group of Native American drummers/vocalists with a rock quartet led by guitarists Yonatan Gat and Lee Ranaldo. The drummers sat in a tight circle as they chanted and played, while the band expanded on riffs such as Link Wray's "Rumble" with wails of feedback and reverb. Very powerful stuff, and a great way to end the festival.

The musical highpoint of the festival was Melissa Aldana, who played two sets at the Pub Molson on Sunday, June 30. Every once in a while, a musician provides the audience with a special moment, the dragon that all music lovers are chasing, a moment when the balance between the musician's technique, approach, and emotional investment is just right, and the musician takes the audience on a glorious trip. One of those moments came during Aldana's 8 o'clock set, when she took a long solo of about 20 minutes that unfolded logically but unpredictably throughout. Gifted with exquisite tonal control on the tenor saxophone, Aldana's sound draws from the entire tradition of saxophone playing from Lester Young on, brought to bear on the exquisitely subtle and intense emotion in the music.

And so another FIJM is in the books. If the new orientation in programming leads to a few people becoming interested in jazz by contemporary artists, the festival will have achieved its goal of developing an audience that will sustain the festival and the music for years to come.